New and Old Bonds
by Bristlestream
Summary: When a particular blue-banded mongoose's strange behaviour is noted by a curious skunk, she follows him in attempt to find out what exactly is going on, but soon realizes it's something greater than she predicted. Now Sunil and her must go on an adventure she never had expected to be a part of, and know she'll never forget. Sunil/Pepper
1. Chapter 1

_This is pretty much just a fanfic l made to practise with writing. I hope you enjoy none-the-less however :D_

Chapter 1: Suspicious Behavior

Pepper sensed something was up.

She observed from under a blue pillow, at the back of the brightly colored pet shop. Not big enough to efficiently fit all her body under, but did the trick of keeping out of sight from a particular skittish Banded mongoose. She squinted her beady, rose eyes in attempt to get a clearer view, and shifted her ears into an alert position, as to make out the words of the conversing skink and mongoose, well, mainly Skink.

Vinnie talked on and on, occasionally adding a few dance moves to his rambling, which ended up tripping him, but not stumping his social butterfly mouth. He was completely oblivious to his friends nervous state, who stood beside him in a completely different world.

Beads of sweat stained Sunil's thick, Turkish blue coat, as his eyes darted back and forth, creating an amber blur. Shoulders uncomfortably high and back straight replaced his usual posture.

"So then l chased the lady all the way down the street! She was so scared!" Vinnie laughed, falling to the ground and kicking his legs in the air. Sunil stood there, not even acknowledging the green reptile, clearly distracted. After finally noticing Vinnie wasn't joined by his friend, he pulled himself into a sitting position, quickly flicking back his tangled hair before explaining.

"Um... It was funny, Sunil... Like, really funny..." Vinnies confused face soon caught the attention of Sunil, in which he gave him the best fake smile he could muster. And soon began a fake, pitchy laugh. Vinnie, obviously not the one to pick up on all these signs, joined in, making a racket that echoed around the pet shop. However, when Sunil's fake laughter stopped, Vinnie couldn't get a word in before Sunil quickly announced;

"Vinnie, I need to use the Litterbox!"

As quick as he said it, he was gone, leaving behind a skeptical skink to scratch his head in confusion.

"That's strange..." Pepper muttered to herself, staring after the fleeing mongoose.

"What's strange, Darling?" A voice from behind her suddenly called.

"Ahh!" Pepper jumped up in surprise, knocking off the pillow that stealthily hid her. After she regained her balance, she looked over to where the voice sounded, to find a purple cavalier spaniel in its place.

"Zoe! What are you doing here?" Pepper frustratedly growled, dusting herself off.

The dog narrowed her sky blue eyes before picking herself up from the sitting position she contained, and began to pace around the skunk, her well-groomed tail flicking at Peppers cheeks as she passed her head.

"No, Pepper" She stopped in front of her friend, glaring at her with frosty eyes "The question is, what are you doing here?"

"Quit acting all dramatic, Zo" Pepper snapped, taking a step-back from her space-bubble popping friend. "I'm on a mission, can't you see?" she pointed towards the pillow she once hid under, which was flipped over and laid awkwardly on the ground.

"Hmm" Zoe pondered, paw stroking her chin "What l did see was you eyeing Sunil more than usual today, is that your so called 'mission'?"

"Partly" Pepper confessed, slightly blushing "But when you say it that way, you make me sound like some sort of a stalker!" She let off a low growl when she felt more heat cover her face, and shook her head in attempt to get it off.

Zoe raised an eyebrow, and laughed as Pepper expanded in her attempts to get rid of the blush by desperately grooming her cheeks.

"Okay, okay, Pepper!" The purple diva stopped her friend by placing a paw on the embarrassed skunks shoulder. "You're not a stalker. But I'm curious, what's this mission of yours?"

"Err, well, it's not really a mission..." She confessed, cowardly looking at her friend. "It's more of a 'Find out why Sunil is acting so weird today' kind of thing"

"I see..." Zoe barked, smirking "Pepper, you do realize that Sunil is always acting 'weird', right?" she quizzingly looked at her friend, who wore her own confused expression.

"What, no no no! Sure he's naturally 'weird', but he's acting more weird than usual!" Pepper waved her arms in the air "He's really jumpy!"

"News flash" Zoe looked at her pampered paw in boredom. "Sunil is always jumpy"

"Well, yeah, but he's acting really nervous!"

"Still just Sunil being Sunil..."

"Uh, he keeps leaving Vinnie's side!"

"I think that's self explanatory" Zoe looked up from her paw and at the skunk, who clearly was desperate to show some evidence of his strange behavior.

Pepper paused her paw waving frenzy for a moment, and stated "Okay, that was kinda mean" before continuing.

"Meh. I'm sure you'd be making excuses too if his clumsy dance moves could cost you your life, he did lose his tail from it not long ago" The dog shrugged it off, walking over to the blue pillow Pepper once hid under and flipping it back over.

"Pepper, I'm not sure whether l should leave you in this state of mind, but l really need my beauty sleep" She exclaimed before stepping onto the cushion and laying down. "Remember to tell me how this 'Sunil acting strange mission' goes after, okay?"

When Zoe opened her eyes from a small yawn, she noticed the last few words she had barked were unheard by the skunk.

"I'll show Zoe" Pepper angrily mumbled as she stalked away. "Sunil is up to something, and it's my job as a friend to find out!"

Pepper sneakily tiptoed towards the door of the day camp area. Not needed, but felt necessary as to set the mood. When she approached the glass entry, she slid through the purple flap, to find Mrs Twombly at her desk, chatting to the subject of which Peppers inquiries were about. As the skunk got closer to the two by hiding behind display benches, she noticed Sunil's arms folded behind his back, holding a black, moving object. 'Is that a tape-recorder?' Pepper asked herself, then noticing a slight motor noise in the shop.

"Sunil, what are you doing here, sweetie?" Mrs Twombly cheerfully laughed, obviously not able to hear the noise in the silent pauses of the conversation. "Why, you wanna treat, don't you!? Oh l'm sure your owner gives you enough already!" she exclaimed, poking Sunil's stomach with her finger and walking off to either stack some cans, take a nap, or obsess about door knobs, from what Pepper assumed.

What Mrs Twombly didn't realize, is that the contact she made with the mongoose before leaving caused him to stumble back. Not being able to use his hands to balance himself, he fell from the counter and onto the clean, polished floor. Sunil quickly gathered himself together, gasping in panic for the tape recorders health, which had fallen from his paws and landed a few feet away from him. Grabbing the device, he clicked a button and sighed in relief when hearing Mrs Twombly's voice replay to him.

At this point, Pepper's curiosity got the best of her, and she decided to approach the mongoose.

"Hey Sunil" Pepper casually called as she drew nearer to him "What's that you got there?"

Sunil yelped in surprise and quickly hid the Tape-Recorder behind his back, beads of sweat returning to his face. "Oh, hey Pepper..." He tried to say in his regular charming Indian accent, but instead turned out croaky from the lump in his throat. "Uh... I haven't got anything" He lied, scrunching up his noise and avoiding eye contact.

"But l just saw something... Can l take a look at your paws?" Pepper replied innocently, batting her eye lashes.

"Um..." Sunil thought quickly, before nervously grinning at Pepper and swinging his paws towards her, shortly after hearing a 'clunk' behind his back.

"Ugh, Sunil, what's behind your back?" The skunk asked, getting slightly impatient.

"...Nothing"

"Ugh! That's it!" Pepper ran behind Sunil, making him turn around and become spotted, red handed, as the tape-recorder lay on the ground.

"Well well well..." Pepper picked up the recorder, observing it thoroughly in case it wasn't what she had presumed, although her predictions seemed correct.

"Please, Pepper! Give it back! I beg of you!" Sunil dropped to his knees into a begging position, activating puppy eyes.

"Pff" Pepper rolled her eyes.

Usually Pepper wouldn't fall for such embarrassment of grown animals, but as she looked into his amber eyes she suddenly felt herself unable to look away. His black bulging pupils shot a bullet right through her heart. His swirling irises attracted Pepper like bugs to a light, she found herself locked, in his trance- hey, hang on, Sunil was Hypnotizing her! She managed to escape by blinking and shaking her head, then looked at Sunil with little sympathy.

'But then again..." She pondered "If he would go so far as to hypnotize his own friend, then maybe it is important' Pepper thought for a moment, and then looked at her friend who was now cowering sheepishly.

Sighing in defeat, Pepper dropped the Tape-Recorder, which Sunil caught in welcoming paws.

"Oh, Thankyou!" Sunil happily exclaimed, pulling Pepper into a short hug that brought heat to her cheeks. Sunil rushed away, as to where Pepper didn't find out, or refused to until taken care of the blush that smeared like butter across her face.

Pepper didn't see much of the mongoose after that, but whenever she did happen to get a glimpse of rushing blue fur, she'd observe him, in attempt to figure out what the incident that morning was about, but to no success. This exercise apparently seemed to have made her jumpy also, for when her hedgehog friend called out to her, she flung around to meet the voice and reared back in fright.

"Oh... Hey Russell!" She greeted him in a slightly annoyed tone, frustrated that she'd let that happen twice today "What's up?"

"My checklist, is 'what's up', Pepper" The orange hedgehog crossed his arms and looked up at Pepper in an annoyed fashion.

"Uh..." Pepper muttered in confusion, scratching her head.

"Ugh! My checklist is left un-ticked, Pepper! You and Sunil haven't allowed me to check off 'All associates merry or at the least content in the day camp area' yet! What's wrong?" Russell's green eyes glared up at Pepper in concern, making it more difficult to think of an excuse.

"Um, Sunil and I are fine, Russell, really. We're just both tired, l guess..." Best. Excuse. Ever.

Although, Russell still stared up at the skunk, now tilting an eye brow as he asked "And what were you both doing that made you so tired, exactly?"

This caused Peppers cheeks to immediately flush, as she stared at the hedgehog, dumbfounded.

"N-no, Russell! Nothing l-like that! You got me all wrong, dude!" she slowly backed away, now desperate for an excuse "Hehe, it's not like we were making out or anything, who do you think l am!? We aren't even together, why would you ever think that we were! Its not like l like him or anything!" She nervously chuckled, making it easier to believe what she had just told.

"Right... So, master of seduction, what am l going to do about my list?"

Pepper scowled as he called her by her apparent new title, but decided to help him anyway.

"H-hey! I know, considering your little list says 'in the day camp area', maybe I can go outside, and then you can check it off?"

Russell blinked a few times, before letting out a defeated sigh.

"Fine, but I still don't know where Sunil is!"

"All well, that's okay, too bad, bye!" Pepper hurriedly said, quickly excusing herself and running out the cat flap of the day camp area.

"What just happened?" Russell asked himself, before walking back over to his waiting friends.

"Well, Russell?" Minka swung off her tire rope and to his side, curiously awaiting a response.

"Yeah, did she say anything?" Vinnie asked, also climbing down from a high distance to meet the orange hedgehog.

"Just as l presumed, shes not budging" his frown then turned into a mischievous smile. "Although she said they were just tired. Must have had a pretty hard time attempting to distinguish something last night."

As the pets all said their goodbyes that afternoon, which was all one by one as their owners picked them up on their way home from work, Pepper noticed two things. 1; that Blythe was late or possibly held back at some after school activity, meaning she would have to wait longer for her ride home that was requested by her companion, and 2; Sunil just left the pet shop in the wrong direction! He had seemed to make it as stealthy as possible; leaving without anyone noticing so they'd just thought he'd left with his owner, but nobody can escape 'the Peppers' observant eyes. Not only had he left the pet shop in the wrong direction, but he also carried a small backpack with him, making it more so obvious that something was wrong. Pepper had to follow him, she'd made up her mind. She drew away from the glass window she 'observed' him from, and ran over to Penny-ling, whose owner was the last to pick up their pet, and quickly blabbered; "PennyI'vegottagol'llseeyoulatertellBlythel'mfineo kay!"

However, before the skunk could get to the door, she heard her sensitive friend yell out.

"Wait! What what what!?" Pennyling asked, sitting on the floor in confusion.

"Penny, l really don't have time okay? Tell Blythe l walked home" Pepper impatiently called, speed walking towards the cat flap.

"But-"

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" The skunk cut in, trying to give the panda a serious stare, which pretty much came on its own when she thought of losing Sunil.

The panda looked at her friend for a moment, before nodding unsurely. "Okay"

Pepper smiled and once again slipped through the cat flap. When out of sight from the peering eyes of Pennyling, she ran out the door and in the direction Sunil went, in desperation to catch up to the mongoose.

What ever he was up to, she would soon find out.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the reviews guys, l appreciate it :D_

Chapter 2: Slight Change in Plans

Sunil looked back to find no pet following him. He sighed in relief, and trekked on, now only his destination in mind. The setting sun turned his blue fur a gold colour as he drew nearer. He had this strange feeling, as if he was being watched, though nobody was around, only the occasional passing of cars as he walked along the side path. Of course he knew that people who wandered pass would give him strange looks. Mongoose weren't at all common in America, but he didn't think that's what worried him. Looking back again, he gulped when, as expected, there was nobody there. This felt wrong, but was he really doing the wrong thing? He shook his head. Of course he was, but he needed to do this, no matter how worried his friends or owner may get. He kept walking at a fast pace until he reached the location of mind, a red framed, rectangular glass box, towering over him as if the inanimate object was scolding him for turning against the people he loved. Sunil's knees were ready to collapse on him as he realized that now was the time to act, one of the most important parts of his plan was about to take place. Was he ready? Not even he knew, but the voice inside his head that chanted 'You need to do this' forced him to press onwards. He made his way to the door of the box, before realizing there was one important aspect of his plan that he missed. He mumbled the word on the sign, and slapped his face into his paw. 'Pull'. How was he going to do that? Pushing is much easier, he only assumed that this was the same, however he was wrong, which made him bring his paw to his chin to think of what to do. In this process, he didn't realize that something was approaching him from behind. The sound of paw steps against the pavement weren't heard by the pondering mongoose, however the sudden loud voice that called from this figure caught his attention.

"BOO!"

Sunil shrieked in surprise, jumping up into the air with bristled fur, and landing flat on his stomach.

"Ouch..." He moaned, taking the paw that was held out in front of him in help to getting up, only to scream and fall to the ground again in realization as to who it was. A grey skunk stood in front of him, her mouth curving at the sight in amusement.

"P-Pepper!?" Sunil stuttered, sprawled out on the ground with a stunned expression. Dread suddenly flooded over him. 'Oh no, this is bad this is bad this is bad'

"Hiya!" She replied back cheerfully, leaning down to become eye level with the mongoose. "Whatcha doing?"

"Me!?" He sprung up, sweat once again smothering his face. Pity, he thought that phase was over.

"Uhh, you are the only other animal around" Pepper cocked an eyebrow, then looking up at the red box behind Sunil.

"Umm, why are you trying to get into a phone booth?" She asked, looking back to the mongoose expectantly.

He blinked at her, before looking behind him and back.

"Oh! W-well... I'm just innocently walking home, and this-" He pointed to the booth "just happened to be in my way... And er, l decided to... Investigate, yes!" He raised his index paw, mentally thanking himself for coming up with such a good excuse.

"That was a pathetic excuse" The skunk retorted, sticking out her tongue.

"Hey! It was not!" He realized what he had just said, and flung his paws over his mouth. "Uh, l mean... What l speak is the truth"

"Sure thing" She rolled her eyes "Firstly, your home isn't even out this way. Secondly, you've been acting weird all day. And thirdly, you have a back pack with you, which explains a lot in my eyes" her expression suddenly saddened "You're... Running away from us..."

"What! No Pepper..." he walked over to his slouched friend and put a paw on her shoulder. "I would never do such a thing... Well, l'm not... But l am- No, l am not! Ugh" he once again face-palmed as he managed to confuse himself.

Guilt washed over him as he looked at Pepper. Her lips trembled and her pupils contracted as she slightly whimpered, looking up at him with hurt.

He sighed in defeat. So much for this great plan...

No, he needed to do this...

"I-I won't be gone for long, l promise with all my mongoose pride." He lied, yet still smiling down at the upset skunk.

"So you are going somewhere?" She looked up at him, still wearing the same expression.

"Well... Yes, but as l said, not for long... Just a day or two" He stated, the lie slashing at him with shame.

"Well, maybe... You should let me go with you...?" She sniffled, puppy eyes still bearing into him.

"Err" This could ruin his whole plan, of course not! "Unfortunately, this is something l need to do alone, my sincerest apologies, Pepper"

When she didn't reply, he backed away from her and towards the phone booth.

"So... Uh, tell everyone that l'll be fine, and will be back soon..." He nervously spoke, before turning his attention to the red box. Now if he could just figure out-

"No"

"Huh?" Sunil looked over his shoulder to see an unamused skunk. All trace of sadness was gone, and instead replaced with beady eyes and curve-less lips.

"You aren't going without me" She remarked all in the same tone, eyes narrowing.

"Pardon?" He asked in disbelief. Was this really the same Pepper he had upset before? "What happened to the moping Pepper l had just witnessed?"

"Well, obviously cute and innocent doesn't work with you- Either that or Zoe's acting lessons were a rip off-" She added, "So now, l will let you choose between allowing me to go or me running back to the pet shop and telling Blythe about this~"

Sunils eyes dilated at her words "You wouldn't dare..."

"You bet l would, but then we're talking about different games..." She chuckled slightly at her joke "Anyway, the pet shop isn't too far away from here. I could easily run there and tell Blythe whats going on. I'm sure she'll be here in a heart beat, wondering what's wrong..." The skunk smirked.

"Pepper!" Sunil whined, huffing as he crossed his arms in annoyance. Why couldn't she just cooperate for once? She doesn't understand, he needs to do this.

She walked over to Sunil with a new expression on her face; concern.

"Listen, Sunil" The skunk tried to reason "I know that you mongoose are independent and what not, but here's the thing. You are going somewhere, by yourself, against your owner and friends will. Quite clearly this isn't an ordinary ordeal" She sat down opposite of him, in which he also sat.

"But- what about your owners!? You would be going against them also, and just for me? I think that's a cause that doesn't need to be tended to" He obliged, crossing his arms.

"That isn't the point! I would do anything to help a friend! This could be dangerous! I think you need a companion, someone who can back you up and keep you from insanity"

"I am not quite sure about this. You don't even know where l'm going or what l'm doing."

"Please, Sunil." Pepper urged "I know this was meant to be a secret, but l really just want to know that you'll be safe. There's only so much you can do with your magic tricks and cobra fighting skills. Please consider?"

His ears perked slightly as 'cobra' came out of her mouth. Pepper was right, this could be really dangerous... Okay, extremely dangerous. He didn't want to drag along the skunk, she could get hurt. What could she do if some monster emerged from the bushes? Bore them to death with corny jokes? Maybe he should just forget this whole thing? There could be too many things that could go wrong if not timed perfectly, and Pepper would make things much more difficult.

No, he needed to do this.

In his head he quickly went through the cons and pros.

'Con- she could ruin everything, Pro- She could help with everything, Con- She could get seriously hurt, Pro- If l get hurt, then at least she can tell everyone what happened'

He shook his head, okay, he wasn't really good at making decisions. Though, when he looked up at the concern filled skunk, his mind seemed to find the answer. She wasn't just some helpless Dansel in distress-he more likely was in retrospect- her Tom-boyish attitude always seemed to have caught his eye. She was persistent, he could give her that, and she would fight to the death if she had to, not that he would ever want that to happen, the thought of blood being shed made him queasy. And one other thing;

"I don't have a choice, do l?"

"Nope" She chirped, smiling smugly at him.

He sighed, picking himself off the ground and holding his paw out in front of him.

"Okay, but you have to listen to everything l say carefully. This won't exactly be a walk in the park"

Pepper looked at the paw in front of her, and took it.

"Okay!"

She shook it and let go, then waiting for the mongooses instructions.

"Now we need to hurry, we don't have a lot of time!" Sunil took off the green back back and pressed his paws against the door of the phone booth, looking up at the pull sign. "First, we need to figure out how to-Auf!" he was cut off as something landed on his shoulders, almost weighing him to the ground. "Pepper!"

"Don't worry, Sunil. I got this" She said with confidence as she balanced her back feet on his shoulders and front paws against the door. Finding the handle, she grabbed onto it and announced "I've got it!"

With that, Sunil took Peppers back feet with his paws and pulled, hoping the door would budge. Eventually, the door flung open, making Sunil stumble back and Pepper land on top of him. The awkward position of her face directly above his and chest pressed against light blue fur turned Peppers face a flustered red, although thankfully Sunil was too concentrated on the task at hand to notice.

"Pepper!" he growled in fustration "What did l say about listening to me?"

"What? The doors open now, isn't it?" She responded with a smirk.

Sunil frowned. Was it too late to take back agreeing to let her go? He sighed, paws pushing at Peppers chest in attempt to get up. "Whatever, just get off of me so we can continue"

"Oh right, sorry" Pepper sheepishly said as she lifted herself off of him and to his side. Once he got up from the hard pavement Sunil quickly picked up the back pack and ran inside the phone booth, Pepper following behind.

The skunk watched as Sunil pulled out two items from the back pack. A coin, and tape recorder.

"Um... What are they for-" She was cut off by the mongooses impatient "Shush"

She rolled her eyes at him as he jumped up onto the bench beside the telephone. Observing the phone, he slid the coin into the slot beside it and began to dial his number. He wore a nervous expression on his face as it called, and begun to play through the worst case scenarios in his head. 'What if he isn't home? Maybe he knows l'm missing? Maybe he is already at the pet shop!?' feared pricked at him, which was soon slightly dismissed as a familiar voice answered the phone.

"Hello, Abhisoka Nevla speaking" The voice spoke happily, almost bringing tears to Sunils eyes. He quickly pressed a button on the tape recorder which responded back to the man as the cheerful voice of Misses Twombly. "Hello! Owner" it mimicked, "Sunil, is at the pet shop. for tonight because he is a sweetie? Pick him up, tomorrow. Morning!" the different pitches collided with each other, forcing Pepper to cover her ears.

"Umm?" The mans confused tone melted Sunil as he pressed another button on the tape recorder.

"No, questions? Sweetie? Pick him up, tomorrow. Morning!" it repeated.

The man was hesitant before responding unsurely "Okay?"

"good- Goodbye!" Sunil quickly hung up before his owner could respond.

Tears began to build up in his eyes as he realized what he had just done. He betrayed the man he loves with all his heart, the one who raised him and was always there for him. He looked to his side when he felt something on his shoulder. A grey paw.

Pepper smiled reassuringly at him before asking "So, what was that all about?"

He sighed, standing up and placing the tape recorder back in the back pack. He might as well let her in on this.

"You see-" they hoped down from the bench and began slowly walking to the door. "You remember how I had that tape recorder, and you emerged out of no where and started questioning me?"

Pepper nodded her head and followed behind Sunil, allowing him to lead the way.

"Well, I was recording Mrs Twomblys voice, which l then altered and turned into... That" He point back at the phone booth that was left behind them as they trekked on.

"But I don't get it" Pepper responded "You called your owner to tell him that you would be at the pet shop for the night, but wouldn't he have already picked you up by now? And wouldn't have Mrs Twombly gotten suspicious if you just left and didn't come back?"

"It's all timed, Pepper" Sunil said as he looked right and left at the road crossing "Today, my owner would have had to pick me up late, because he has some work conference to attend to." He quickly grabbed Peppers arm and sprinted across the road "And l did the same with my owner, you know, the whole tape his voice, alter and call thing"

"Oh" The skunk regained her posture from the shock of being hurled across the road by the mongoose and continued, "I guess that makes sense. What did 'he' say to Mrs Twombly?"

Sunil looked around, trying to concentrate on his orientation and conversation at the same time "He said that l wouldn't be at the pet shop tomorrow, and that today l would be picked up early out side the pet shop. It's the best l got from him" He suddenly stopped as he realized something, and spun around to the skunk behind him.

"Oh no... Pepper, what about your owners!? They are probably already looking for you!" he began, arms waving in the air and eye wide.

"Oh, l wouldn't worry about that" she muttered with a trace of sadness in her voice.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, still freaked out.

"My owners won't be looking for me!" She snapped back, then suddenly aware of her tone "Sorry" She mumbled.

"Um, are you sure?" He asked hesitantly, placing his paws to his sides. The last thing he wanted to do was upset the skunk again.

Pepper sighed and tried to compose a smile "Yes l'm sure, and Pennyling would have told Blythe that l walked home"

Relief flooded over the mongoose when he heard that, and continued to walk.

"So" Pepper casually said, trotting up to Sunils side "Where exactly are we going?"

"Err..." The mongoose replied, scratching his head nervously, before hesitantly answering;

"Pepper, we're kinda maybe going to... Africa"


End file.
